245
Founding of El Paso and Establisliment of ,!fissions
most gala attire with splendid accoutrements and glistening arms." Then, to complete the day the first drama to be presented on the banks of the Rio Grande was played by a group of soldiers. This dramatic composition, written on the spot by Captain Farfan, one of the members of the expedi- tion, attempted to depict the advent of the friars to New Mexico. Villagra, an eyewitness, says, in speaking of the play: "We saw the priests coming to this land, kindly received by the simple natives, who reverently approached on bended knee and asked to be received into the faith, being baptized in great numbers." Thus with a prophetic vision, Captain Farfan foretold the early triumphs of the sons of Saint Francis in New Mexico. His alle- gorical composition was first presented on the threshold of modern El Paso, less than fifteen miles south of the present city. 3 Tlee 1'Jlfa11so Indians. The next day the expedition took up its march. On May 3, after traveling about ten miles, four Indians from a nearby mncleerf.a were brought into camp. These were kindly treated by the Spaniards, who dressed them and sent them back to their people with presents. From them they learned that two leagues hence there was a suitable crossing where the expedition could go to the opposite bank. On May 4. the expedition arrived at the passageway which they named El Paso de] Norte, which name it has borne since that time. "There came to our camp here forty of the said Indians, with Turkish bows. Their hair was cut short and worn in a knot, Milan fashion. The knot was· held together [in part] by blood or coloring matter which made the hair stick. Their first words were manzo, manzo, micos, micos, meaning tame and friends. They make [ the sign of] the cross with their fingers and raise it on high. By means of evident signs they told us that six or eight days hence were the pueblos ... 'vVe gave them many presents and they helped us to take the sheep across the river, which we passed on this day by the crossing ... For many leagues around there is no other ford over which carts can cross." 4 They had traveled eight and a half leagues from the point where they first struck the river to the crossing and on taking an observation they found its latitude to be thirty-one degrees. In the vicinity of the ford they noticed the wheel tracks of the ten carts which Morlete brought back from New Mexico, when he arrested Castano de Sosa. Such are the details of the first definite identification of the present 3 Espinosa, op. cit., 128-129 ; "Ytinerario"' in Docummtos, XVI. 242; Hammond, "Oiiate and the Founding of New .Mexico, " New 11/exico Historict1l Review, 1, 312-313. ·1 "Ytinerario, .. in op. cit., XVI, 244.
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